Tan Li
Tan Li | ||
|---|---|---|
谭力 | ||
Pi County | ||
| In office September 1995 – October 1997 | ||
| Personal details | ||
| Born | October 1955 (age 68) Hanyu Pinyin | Tán Lì |
Tan Li (
In 2014, Tan was subject to a corruption investigation by the Communist Party's internal disciplinary body. His Hainan colleague Ji Wenlin was also implicated with corruption. Tan was removed from office in July 2014. He has been linked to disgraced security tsar Zhou Yongkang.[1]
Biography
Early life
Tan was born and raised in Chongqing, where he graduated from Chongqing Normal University.
During the Down to the Countryside Movement, Tan worked as a sent-down youth in Changning County, Sichuan. After the resumption of university entrance examination, Tan was admitted to Chongqing Normal University and received a degree on political history. After college, he was assigned to Yibin department of education, and later a provincial party-run school. He taught administrative management. He was given the title of "professor" in December 1992.
In September 1995, Tan was appointed the Communist Party Secretary of
Mianyang, Sichuan earthquake
The 2008 Sichuan earthquake struck the province in May 2008. Mianyang was particularly hard hit. The region was given special attention by the central government; both General Secretary and President Hu Jintao as well as Premier Wen Jiabao visited the region in the aftermath of the earthquake. In a widely circulated photo, Tan was seen smiling in the entourage of the Premier. In a television broadcast, Tan was also seen smiling amid the debris. Tan's smiling during the most destructive earthquake to hit the country since 1976 generated significant criticism online; internet users dubbed him "Tan Xiaoxiao" (谭笑笑, literally "the laughing Tan") or the "Smiling Secretary" (微笑书记).[2][3]
Tan responded to his critics during a media interview, "I don't think people know the truth... behind that incident. The General Secretary and the Premier were both visiting, I was greeting them. I was happy to see them, of course I wanted to smile."[2] He also said that he faced immense stress coordinating the response to the earthquake, and that "as a public official, you need to withstand this stress [from the criticism], otherwise it will affect the work of the earthquake rescue activities. I'm the party secretary, like any politician, criticism comes with the job.[2]
In the aftermath of the earthquake, Tan lived in a makeshift office, on the first floor, and slept on a sofa.
Tan's term in Mianyang has also been marred with rumours that his second wife, a television host, had business interests which benefitted from government contracts aimed at increasing green space in Mianyang.
Hainan
In March 2009, Tan was elevated to lead the Communist Party's provincial propaganda department in Hainan province.[4] This was a promotion that elevated him from the prefecture level to a provincial-level leadership body. During a meeting of the Hainan government where Tan's transfer was announced, one of the provincial government leaders showered Tan with praise, remarking, "this marks a strengthening of talent in the Hainan provincial government." He was elected as Vice-Governor of Hainan in January 2010.[5]
Downfall
On July 8, 2014, it was announced that Tan was undergoing investigation by the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection of the Chinese Communist Party for "serious violations of laws and regulations",[6] in a case that was tied to the corruption investigation of Ji Wenlin, another provincial official in Hainan. According to state media, Tan's offenses included accepting bribes, extramarital relationships, and engaging in "lavish meals, karaoke, and other expensive pastimes."[7] Both Tan Li and Ji Wenlin had at one point worked under then-Sichuan Party Secretary Zhou Yongkang.[8] One day after state media announced the investigation into Zhou, Tan was removed from office.[8]
Tan was expelled from the Communist Party in September 2014.[7] On October 13, 2016 , Tan was sentenced to life in prison for guilty of bribery in Guangzhou People's Intermediate Court.[9]
Personal life
Tan was twice married. His second wife worked as a television host for Mianyang Television.[10]
References
- ^ 海南省副省长谭力涉违法违纪遭调查. BBC. July 8, 2014.
- ^ a b c d e f g h 谭力50岁后离婚再娶女主播 大搞夫人外交(图)（全文）. Netease. July 9, 2014.
- ^ 海南副省长谭力被查 传涉周永康案. zaobao.com.sg (in Chinese). 2014-07-08.
- ^ 原绵阳市委书记谭力任海南省委常委、宣传部长. Tencent. Retrieved 2012-04-11.
- ^ 谭力被任命为海南省人民政府副省长. Sina. 2012-04-11.
- ^ 海南省委常委、副省长谭力涉嫌严重违纪违法接受组织调查. ccdi.gov.cn (in Chinese). 2014.
- ^ a b Meng, Jie (September 30, 2014). "Former vice governor of China's Hainan Province expelled from CPC". Xinhua. Archived from the original on November 29, 2014.
- ^ a b 周永康落马翌日 海南副省长谭力被免职. BBC. 30 July 2014.
- ^ "China jails for life associate of former security chief". Reuters.
- ^ 消息称谭力妻子"情妇转正" 曾为电视台主持人. Tencent (in Chinese). 2014.